It may have been a pandemic-era celebration, but Flin Flon’s latest edition of Culture Days still earned national honours.
Flin Flon was listed as the rural area or small town with the fifth-most events this year by Culture Days nationally, having held 28 events throughout a month-long celebration this past fall.
“This annual recognition is a fantastic indicator that the City of Flin Flon is an active champion for arts and culture,” reads a statement from Culture Days executive director Shannon Bowler.
“As we continue to navigate these uncertain times, recognizing the passion, hard work and unshakeable spirit of arts, culture and heritage event organizers in your community is especially important.”
This year’s Culture Days featured several familiar events, like the Wild Things Market at Creekside Park, Human Books events at the Flin Flon Public Library, the annual Dancing Down Main Street event and a smattering of musical events and performances. Starting back on Sept. 24, the 2021 edition of Culture Days ran until Oct. 24, ending with a performance from the Nemihitowok Hoop Troupe.
Unlike in previous years, where Flin Flon Culture Days included over a hundred events, ran over a one-week span and ranked highly among all Canadian communities (including large cities), this year’s event was kept relatively small due to COVID-19 concerns. COVID-19 health orders also restricted some events, keeping in-person attendance at indoor events to fully vaccinated people only and having strict capacity limits for other events.
When asked following the final events last month, Flin Flon Arts Council cultural coordinator and Culture Days lead organizer Crystal Kolt said the event this year felt different from recent events, particularly 2020, where most Culture Days events were cancelled due to the second wave of COVID-19.
“Oddly, it felt a little bit different from the year before, which felt like we were grinding to a complete halt. This one almost feels like 10 years ago, the beginning of Culture Days, feeling like there’s this type of excitement,” she said.
